Argentina: Mandatory and Preventive Social Isolation Measures

Mandatory and preventive social isolation

Decree 297/2020 dated March 19th 2020 established, for all the people who live in Argentina or are temporarily in the country, a mandatory and preventive social isolation as from 00:00 hours of March 20^th 2020 and until March 31^st 2020 inclusive, term that may be extended according to the epidemiologic situation.

During such term, the people must stay in their usual place of residence. They shall not attend to their workplaces and must limit their circulation to the minimum and essential, to provide themselves with cleaning, medical and food supplies.

Additionally, the Decree sets forth that, while the isolation is in force, no events of any type involving the gathering of people can be made and also order that all stores, malls, wholesale and retail establishments and any other type of place that require the presence of people shall remain closed.

While the isolation is in force, the employees of the private sector will be entitled to the full payment of their normal salary.

The public holiday on April 2^nd is moved to March 31^st 2020.

Those people affected to the activities and services that the Decree provides as “essential” are exempted from the isolation and prohibition to circulate, although the exemption to circulate is limited to the strict compliance of such essential activities and services.

We suggest that the employees circulating outside their homes in these exceptional cases carry a certificate stating that they are employees of excepted companies. Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding the draft of this certificate.

The “essential” activities and services pursuant to the Decree are the following:

1. Health, Security Forces and Armed Forces personnel, migratory activity, national meteorological services, firefighters and air traffic control.
2. Superior authorities of the national, provincial, municipal and City of Buenos Aires governments, national, provincial, municipal and City of Buenos Aires public sector employees required by the respective authorities to guarantee the essential activities.
3. On duty personnel of the Service of justice.
4. Foreign diplomatic and consular personnel credited before the Argentine government and international organizations’ personnel credited before the Argentine government, “Red Cross” and “White Helmets”.
5. People who has to assist others with disabilities, relatives needing assistance, elders, boys, girls and teenagers.
6. People having to handle a force majeure situation.
7. People affected to the performance of funeral, burial and cremation services.
8. People affected to the attention of school and community lunch and snack rooms.
9. People performing audiovisual, radial and graphic communication services.
10. Personnel affected to the public work.
11. Wholesale and retail supermarkets and retail proximity stores, including pharmacies. Hardware store, veterinaries and carafe supply.
12. Food industry, personal hygiene, cleaning, medical equipment, medicine, vaccines and other health supplies industries.
13. Agricultural and fishing production, distribution and commercialization related activities.
14. Telecommunications, home and mobile internet, digital services activities.
15. External commerce related activities that cannot be delayed.
16. Collection, transport and treatment of waste.
17. Maintenance of basic public services (water, electricity, communications, gas, etc.) and attention to emergencies.
18. Public transport of people and transport of goods, petrol, fuels and liquefied petroleum gas.
19. Delivery of food, medicine, personal hygiene, cleaning and other emergency supplies.
20. Laundry services.
21. Postal and package distribution services.
22. Essential surveillance, cleaning and guard services.
23. Minimal guards ensuring the operation and maintenance of oil and gas fields, oil and gas treatment and/or refinement plants, transport and distribution of electric energy, liquid fuels, petrol and gas, fuel vending stations, and electric power generators.
24. Local currency printing establishment, ATM services, flow transport, and all activities which the Argentine Central Bank determines as essential to ensure the payment system operation.

This report cannot be considered as legal or other advice by Allende & Brea or as including all the subjects of the matters described herein. For additional information on any matter related to labor issues in Argentina, please contact Nicolás Grandi (ngrandi@allende.com) at +54 (11) 4318-9984.